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Rabat — Morocco’s unemployment rate has witnessed a slight decrease of 0.4% in the first quarter of 2025, falling from 13.7% to 13.3% compared to the first quarter of 2024, according to Morocco’s Higher Commission for Planning (HCP).
The report attributed this decline to the creation of 282,000 jobs in the Moroccan economy, which is a significant turnaround after the country lost 80,000 positions last year.
The report details that urban areas witnessed a more significant improvement as unemployment decreased by 1 point to 16.6%, with 285,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, rural areas experienced a slight loss of 3,000 jobs, marking a slight increase of 0.5 points to 7.3%.
The total number of unemployed people in Morocco decreased by 1% to 1,630,000. This includes 40,000 fewer unemployed people in urban areas, partially offset by an increase of 25,000 in rural regions.
As for the rate of unemployment among genders, men’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.5% to mark 11.5%, while women’s unemployment decreased slightly by 0.2% to reach 19.9%.
Youth unemployment presents a mixed picture. The rate for young unemployed people between 15-24 rose by 1.8% to stand at 37.7%.
However, other age groups saw improvements, with unemployment among people between 25-34 falling by 0.8% to reach 21.2%. For those aged 35-44, there was a 0.5% drop to reach 7.5%. People aged 45 and older experienced a decrease of 0.6% to attain 3.9%.
For graduates, unemployment fell by 0.9% to 19.4%. This decrease was most pronounced among technical certificate and middle management diploma holders, with 3.9% to 24%, and vocational qualification graduates, with 3.6% down to 21.9%.
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Despite the overall drop in unemployment, underemployment increased across Morocco. The number of employed people in underemployment situations rose from 1,069,000 to 1,254,000 nationwide.
The underemployment rate increased by 1.5% nationally to 11.8%, with rural areas seeing a larger jump of 2.3% to 14.8%, compared to a 1% increase to 10% in urban areas.
Workers experiencing insufficient hours increased from 576,000 to 664,000 people nationwide, with the corresponding rate rising from 5.6% to 6.3%.
Meanwhile, those facing inadequate income or mismatches between training and employment grew from 493,000 to 590,000 people, with the rate jumping from 4.8% to 5.6%.
Economic sectors saw rising underemployment rates, with the construction sector, already suffering the highest underemployment, seeing the biggest increase of 3.6% (from 19% to 22.6%).
The construction sector was followed by agriculture, forestry, and fishing with a 2.3-point increase from 12.1% to 14.4%, manufacturing jumped from 6.3% to 7.3%, and services with a 0.7% increase from 8.3% to 9%.
These figures demonstrate Morocco’s continued economic recovery and job market resilience, despite ongoing challenges in the agricultural sector and youth employment.
